The Town

First off, let me apologize for skipping the month of August. And most of September. Stuff happens. Next, let me say that Ray LaMontagne was a weird choice for the music in the closing credits of The Town. But that's pretty much the only problem I had with the entire film.

A lot of star power can sometimes be tough on a movie. It can overwhelm the audience. It also makes me wary of how good a movie's going to be. Sometimes I look at a movie that has a bunch of people that I know in it and start to think that everyone signed on because they knew so and so was in it too. But the star power in this movie did not disappoint. Ben Affleck, from Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, and formerly of "Bennifer", plays Doug MacRay, a bank robber who, along with his childhood best friend, played by Jeremy Renner, from The Hurt Locker, stages money truck and bank heists in Charlestown, a neighborhood of Boston. Charlestown has a rep for being a breeding ground for bank robbers. The opening credits of the film contain a quote that reads something like, "In Charlestown, robbing banks is a trade. Passed down from fathers to sons." In this case, Affleck's father, played by Chris Cooper, who has literally been in so many great movies that listing them would be futile, even though I'm pretty sure you don't know who he is. You'd know him if you saw him, but you should know him by name. "Chris Cooper", Google him. Cooper is serving consecutive life sentences for a robbery that went wrong and ended with the killing of the truck guards. Even though he's only in one scene in the entire movie, he nails it. Really, I can't say it enough, you need to know who this guy is by name. Affleck and Renner lead a crew with two other insignificant members that works for The Florist, played by Pete Postlethwaite, from The Usual Suspects, and Inception. Much like Cooper's part in this movie, the Florist's is relatively small but still significant and really well acted. Blake Lively, from Gossip Girl, plays Renner's sister and Affleck's one time girlfriend/hookup. And she was really good. I was actually super surprised. I've only ever seen like 2 episodes of Gossip Girl and I was more impressed by her looks and the absurd nature of that show than I was with her acting. But she was really very good. She pulled off the trashy Boston broad with a 2-year-old and drug problem better than I would've imagined. Even her accent was good. Jon Hamm, Don Draper from Mad Men, played the FBI agent trying to catch them. He was good, but sort of unremarkable. Also, Rebecca Hall, from Vicky Christina Barcelona, plays Claire, a woman that Affleck, Renner, et al., kidnap during a heist and subsequently let free, but we'll get more to this story arc in a second.

Sometimes a movie tries to make a point, teach the audience a lesson. Sometimes a movie just tries to entertain. I think this film was just meant to tell a good story. Some might say that telling a good story is the same as entertaining, but I don't think it is. Telling a good story isn't about the audience. It's about the characters. It's not about keeping your attention. Even though it does. Telling a good story is about something almost intangible. It's about something that transcends typical forms of entertainment. It's just about the story.

The Town is just about the story. The struggle that Affleck has with his identity as a criminal, his burgeoning feelings for Rebecca Hall, his waning feelings for Blake Lively, Hamm's mission to arrest them, Chris Cooper's power issues, the Florist's power issues, Renner's power issues, are all just part of the story. One aspect is not more important than any other. And that's what made this movie so great. It seamlessly blended the characters into one single narrative arc.

And it was great to look at too. Affleck did a great job at the helm directing. And writing. And starring. The trifecta. Affleck has made some bad movie choices. His list of bad movies is longer than his list of good ones. But those good ones really shine. The Town will go down as one of his good ones. Probably his best since his breakthrough with Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with Matt Damon. But Affleck has fought his alcoholism, and he's been married to Jennifer Garner for 5 years now. He's an adult. And he's about to make a massive comeback. I think we're about to see Affleck be better than he's ever been, with a lot more writing and directing credits. His career is not over.

I highly recommend this film. And it's really for everybody. It's incredibly accessible, and it's filled with all kinds of great Boston things that a homer like me really likes. Including some awesome glamour shots of the Bunker Hill Monument (which, little tidbit, was designed by Solomon Willard, who I am related too) and Fenway Park, the greatest place on earth. And for all out LOST fans out there, the Man in Black is in it. So, quick rundown: star power, good story, Fenway, Man in Black. If that's not enough reason to see a movie, I don't know what is.